WALLED LAKE, Mich. – Gavin Anthony Kassab, the 20-year-old involved in a deadly hit-and-run in March 2023, has been sentenced to eight to 15 years in prison, with additional counts to run concurrently, reports The Detroit News. Kassab was the passenger in a vehicle that ran a red light at high speeds during a police chase, resulting in a crash that took the life of 13-year-old Piper Carrothers and injured five others.
The tragic incident occurred when the vehicle, driven by a then 15-year-old, careened through the intersection of West Maple and Decker roads in Walled Lake, hitting two vehicles before causing a chain-reaction crash involving four cars, detailed ClickOnDetroit. Erica Carrothers, Piper's mother, and her other daughter, Cora, 10, were seriously injured, and the crash resulted in Gavin Kassab and the teen driver, whose name has been withheld due to his age, fleeing the scene on foot, leaving behind a scene of devastation and injury.
During Kassab's sentencing, Erica Carrothers, taking the stand as stated in FOX 2 Detroit, expressed the profound loss inflicted upon her family, "While Gavin was running, they were loading the limp body of my daughter Piper into an ambulance," and her husband was hurrying to the hospital clinging to hope for their daughter's survival. In addition to the charges stemming from the fatal crash, Kassab faces separate legal troubles with 10 felony counts related to sexually explicit material of a child, a case that is set to appear in court next month.
Notwithstanding his current predicament, Kassab addressed the court during sentencing, claiming personal growth and expressing regret, “I apologize to the Carrothers family (and) all the victims, in the community for the terrible loss and harm I have caused,” a sentiment that stands in contrast to the judge's perspective who, referencing Kassab's actions and the consequent community harm, highlighted missed opportunities for deescalation, Judge Victoria Valentine added, "The amount of opportunities that you had to retreat, and to tell the driver to retreat, you never did," her voice echoed the weight of irreversible choices.
The juvenile driver involved in the incident awaits sentencing scheduled for September 12, while the memory of Piper Carrothers—an accomplished honor roll student and ice skating enthusiast who once graced the arena at the 2022 National Solo Ice Dance Competition—remains etched in a community grappling with the senseless loss of her young life, immortalized through the cherished pastimes and aspirations she held dear in her all too brief existence.
